£60

2 backers

14 days

Project by

Please help us improve support services and affect culture change in the Liberal Democrat Party with a small donation!

The West Midlands Liberal Democrats are committed to making sure our organisation is inclusive for everyone. The Morrissey Report was produced in 2013 and looked into processes and cultures within the Liberal Democrats. As part of the region's approval and response to this, we are setting up a regional pastoral care team.

This team will support and enhance the work done by our national HQ Pastoral Care Officer, Jeanne Tarrant.

The team will be care officers made up of volunteer members from around the region. Theses volunteers are being recruited using a key skills specification and many have relevant work experience from their non-political careers. This team will be the first port of call contacts for any member/volunteer who has an issue; perhaps with regard to a confidential health issue that is impacting on their involvement with the party, a disagreement that could be affecting relations between members of a local team or even towards the more serious issues of bullying allegations or discrimination.

This will improve volunteer, member and staff support and ensure that people reporting problems have a confidential, listening ear and someone who can advise them of their options. This could be advice around the best internal party process to utilise, for example, whether it is serious enough to be logged as a disciplinary issue or whether (for example if two members are having trouble communicating effectively at a meeting) whether mediation would help. Alternatively, if specific legal or health advice may be needed, care officers can signpost people to an appropriate outside organisation.

In order to recruit a diverse and capable team we need to advertise this to as many members in the region as possible. We are also organising an information and training event for potential care officers, which will include venue hire cost. We are also producing training and legal material that the team must be equipped with. Therefore there will be a cost involved in taking this project forwards.

We know that many Liberal Democrat supporters are keen for culture change and better support services to take a greater role in the party. We therefore hope that you can help with a small donation to cover the few costs that will be incurred and enable us to make this project happen.